28 July 2010
This is kinda an in between post so I aplogise in advance
Update on the return to New Zealand
This is an update mainly for people back home in NZ who may or may not be wondering when I'm returning to tend to my sheep. (I mean that in a "I'm going back to NZ" kinda way not in a "I'm Jesus" kinda way, just in case you mistake that for sheer arrogance...). The short story is that it comes down to visas. If I get my British visa within the next week or so then I'll be gone for a further 3 months and come back near the end of October. However, if I don't get my visa very soon I will be on a flight to NZ on the 7th of Aug. Which is obviously pretty soon. Bit strange I know - 2 weeks or 3 months 'til I get back, but that's the current situation. Will keep you all up-to-date on that situation. I really wish I knew which it's going to be either way, cause its really frustrating.
Emotional crap
Regardless of where I end up in the imminent future, I am coming to the end of my stay here in Belgium. This of course comes with its own mix of emotions. Sad that I'm leaving, happy that I'll be seeing family again (in Eng or NZ), happy cause I might be seeing NZ friends pretty soon, sad cause I'm leaving all my Belgian friends and Dirk and Terry... So its difficult to know what to think a lot of the time. I try to negate this by not thinking much. I know a lot of you would have some smart comments to make there so go for it :p
Thanks
Thanks for actually reading the last two posts by the way, I know they were complete bull, but I was bored. Thats more or less my only excuse. That and perhaps being a little strange but I think its fair to say I can blame/thank my family for that.
Future and stuff...
So after all of this I'm still keen to go into journalism - not sure exactly in what capacity, but I would definately like to do something writing related. So thanks to all the Stamp Media crew, it wouldn't have been the same without you guys - and I mean that in a good way :)
Back to the usual complaints
Tired.....
Public transport...........
.........people in general.
(in that order)
On the bright side... LUNCH! :D
This particular post is pretty disjointed and not very exciting - I consider it to be fairly representative of my mental state right now so deal with it.. Until the next post anyway.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Growing up with love
An ode to Karen
Karen is in love with me.
How do I know this you might ask? How can I possibly have the arrogance to assume such a thing? Well she just threatened to invade some fairly intimate parts of me with a pen for starters. Parts I would rather leave unblemished from what she assures me would be a highly traumatic invasion. This metaphor in mind I'm now determined to coin the term "I'm gonna go Napoleon on your ass".
Not exactly what I would call a silver lining, but I digress.
Ultimately, judging by her passive aggression (directed strongly in my direction) I can only conclude that she's completely, irrevocably in the deepest kind of love with me: Hate-love. You know the kind. Its the kinda thing everyone gets when they're in primary school and have no real idea how to interact in a nice way. I've never really understood fully how this works, but their next option seems to be making their chosen love-victim's life a world of pain. I mean where is the logic!?
Banality
Thankfully as we grow older the options seem to open up a bit. A great highway AKA 'the middle road' evolves. It is at this point in our lives that we begin to have long mundane conversations with the opposite sex purely because by this stage we've realised that physically assaulting them gets you sent to the naughty corner. Make no mistake, I don't mean a good kind of naughty corner. (The kind of naughty corner which is accompanied by a wink everytime you say it. The kind of naughty corner every guy with a hot teacher has fantasised about. Sadly its also the kind of naughty corner which very rarely exists in any place outside of those fantasies... My schooling career aside... Ahem...) In any case, we graduate to this awkward stage of conversation while our social skills are given time to slowly march on in what is hopefully the right general direction.
This stage is probably the most boring time of our lives as far as relationships are concerned. I mean, at least the physical assault and name calling gave some kinda an adrenalin rush right? (Although interestingly enough many in long term relationships get right back into that stuff... talk about full circle eh)
Mixing it up.... and ending up right back where we started
For a lucky few, there is the third stage, the stage where you can combine being boring, exciting and throw in just a bit of friendly violence just to keep the passions high. I mean friendly violence is healthy right? Right??
Jasmin is cool. Cause she keeps hitting me as well. In fact during this entire blog I've been violated by her bottle. In the face. Use your imagination. Something to consider...
Karen is in love with me.
How do I know this you might ask? How can I possibly have the arrogance to assume such a thing? Well she just threatened to invade some fairly intimate parts of me with a pen for starters. Parts I would rather leave unblemished from what she assures me would be a highly traumatic invasion. This metaphor in mind I'm now determined to coin the term "I'm gonna go Napoleon on your ass".
Not exactly what I would call a silver lining, but I digress.
Ultimately, judging by her passive aggression (directed strongly in my direction) I can only conclude that she's completely, irrevocably in the deepest kind of love with me: Hate-love. You know the kind. Its the kinda thing everyone gets when they're in primary school and have no real idea how to interact in a nice way. I've never really understood fully how this works, but their next option seems to be making their chosen love-victim's life a world of pain. I mean where is the logic!?
Banality
Thankfully as we grow older the options seem to open up a bit. A great highway AKA 'the middle road' evolves. It is at this point in our lives that we begin to have long mundane conversations with the opposite sex purely because by this stage we've realised that physically assaulting them gets you sent to the naughty corner. Make no mistake, I don't mean a good kind of naughty corner. (The kind of naughty corner which is accompanied by a wink everytime you say it. The kind of naughty corner every guy with a hot teacher has fantasised about. Sadly its also the kind of naughty corner which very rarely exists in any place outside of those fantasies... My schooling career aside... Ahem...) In any case, we graduate to this awkward stage of conversation while our social skills are given time to slowly march on in what is hopefully the right general direction.
This stage is probably the most boring time of our lives as far as relationships are concerned. I mean, at least the physical assault and name calling gave some kinda an adrenalin rush right? (Although interestingly enough many in long term relationships get right back into that stuff... talk about full circle eh)
Mixing it up.... and ending up right back where we started
For a lucky few, there is the third stage, the stage where you can combine being boring, exciting and throw in just a bit of friendly violence just to keep the passions high. I mean friendly violence is healthy right? Right??
Jasmin is cool. Cause she keeps hitting me as well. In fact during this entire blog I've been violated by her bottle. In the face. Use your imagination. Something to consider...
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
The lol philosophy of life
It has become apparent in recent years that people really do enjoy a good lol. We use it when smsing, emailing and chatting. Some even use it in real life (RL). For most people lol stands for 'laugh out loud' or something to that effect.
The fallacy
Uninterestingly enough, when most people use lol they do not, in fact, laugh out loud as one might be led to believe. This renders the users utter liars, a trait which according to the Oxford Scaffolding Society (OXSS) is becoming more common by the day due to a combination of sex, drugs and arousingly cute baby fish.
Despite this, the word lol has been given a heavenly power, the power to completely change how something is perceived. Observe:
“I hate you” => “I hate you lol”
Quite different aren't they? The first text depicts a seemingly hostile response which comes off as rather offensive. The second text shows a light-hearted bit of backslapping comaraderie between two old friends.
And behold!
I think this is a wonderful example of how lol gives you the power to not lose friends. What I mean is, if you genuinely want to insult a friend without serious repercussions, as long as you follow it with a good solid lol, you will probably be able to maintain the friendship that much longer.
The rookie mistake
Please note this should not be taken to extremes, and is especially to be used with caution amongst the inexperienced lolers of the world.
Once again, observe:
Little Betty: “ I just ran over my cat :(”
You: “You idiot lol”
Invariably this doesn't go down well. Unless maybe Little Betty ran over the cat in a REALLY funny way...
The power of lol
So you see, 'lol' has the ability to give and to take. It is often likened to the handy plug adapter for this reason. Use correctly and your life will be that much easier, use incorrectly and the ramifications could be electrifying.
It has great power, and with great power comes the ability to screw up in fairly banal ways. But when used properly it's a godsend, ready to lighten up your day and make the world a better place :D
---------------------Don't be safe, be lolsafe---------------------
Friday, July 9, 2010
Review of Rock Werchter and a guide to public transport strategy
9 July 2010
The long anticipated Rock Werchter
Rock Werchter was pretty mind blowing. That is, for 4 days I left my mind flapping noisily in the wind while I directed my energies towards other things. Such as survival. More specifically surviving 4 days in 34° degree heat at a festival where you kinda can't sit around in the shade all day if you actually wanna see anything. Somehow I pulled it off. Although my mental faculties are only really starting to return now. They're crawling slowly in my direction with a smarmy look in their slimy eyes.
As I'm sure you can imagine, they weren't the 4 most hygienic days of my life. I mean when we (me and Monica) weren't at concerts we were at the camping ground in a well boiled tent. Sleeping in that bugger is pretty disgusting in that heat. I mean, it really is gross. And that wasnt even using my sleeping bag.
Oh and much thanks to Monica for keeping my wallet and stuff in her handbag for most of the festival :)
Ok so this is what I saw, the performances which were good (regardless of whether I'm a fan of their music or not) are marked with a smiley face and the bad ones are marked with my face of eternal mourning D:
In no particular order....
Impromptu reviews
Muse, Pearl Jam and Vampire Weekend
I don't want to go on too much about how great the big bands were, because I'm pretty sure its all been said before. All I'm going to say is that Muse and Pearl Jam both lived up to the hype. Vampire Weekend was great - they seem to carry a kind of innocence in their performance which I guess may come from them being relatively new to the scene.
Greenday
Probably the biggest let down of the festival. The only performance I genuinely wanted to end about halfway through. And my god, they played for like 2 and a half hours. A band with a lot of good music could pull that off (Pearl Jam, Muse) but they simply don't have the volume to work with. So they end up wasting all this time stopping and talking to the crowd during the song - completely stoppping the song for a solid 5 minutes. That happened on average 2 or 3 times a song. The first time it happens it's kinda ok but eentually you just want it to be over. By the time the song comes back on you've completely lost interest. Especially if it was one of their crappier songs to begin with.
The thing that really turned me off the whole thing though, apart from all I've already mentioned, is that they seem like complete pricks. I mean that probably seems like stating the obvious for some, but they really acted like douchebags. That drummer, my god, he thinks he's so damn funny. i think he has it in his head to try and be 'the crazy wacky one' but all he ends up doing is looking like an overweight older man trying to fit into a strange assortment of school clothes, wearing make-up and running like a retarded chicken. And not in a good way. The lead singer just makes up for that in general dickheadedness. The bassist managed to remain relatively inoffensive so I won't give him a hard time.
Arcade Fire
Many of you may know Arcade Fire, but I must admit, while I'd heard of them, I'd never actually heard one of their songs before going to Werchter. They had one of the best performances in my opinion. The energy on stage was incredible. They were crazy, but they pulled it off really well. Would be interested to listen to their music and see if its still good without the performance to back it up.
Balthazar
Right, so this is the Belgian band I mentioned earlier. Never heard of them prior to Werchter, but was pretty impressed. Its mostly pretty simple music from what I've heard but I like it. If you want to have a listen to a song to see what I'm talking about check it out at Balthazar's Myspace. You can listen to a few of their singles there. All good if I recall but like 'Hunger at the door' in particular as well as 'The boatman'... I think... Let me know what you think of the music in the comments...You know... if you want...
The rest I can't really be bothered talking about, not that they weren't good, I just don't feel like talking about them so much...
... There is one thing I should probably mention.. You know how at concerts they usually throw picks/drumsticks into the crowd? Well I was almost right at the front for Pearl Jam, and I managed to score myself a genuine PEARL JAM PICK! Which I feel is pretty damn awesome.
----------------------END OF REVIEWS---------------------------
This week was mostly back to normal. Last night I went to what can only be desrcibed as a youth booth festival. Which was pretty good. Before that we'd been playing lots of pool which was good cause I haven't done that properly in a while...
Public Transport
What is it with people when you're trying to get off the train/tram and they try get in before you can get out??? I mean, its bloody full. It doesn't take much brainpower to work out that if something is full, you have to empty it a bit before anything else can be put in it. But nooooo... these dicks are ambitiously trying to defy the laws of physics. And provoke my ire. Lets not forget the ire. I mean, I could glare at them or something. Actually I usually do, but they're too busy to notice.
I have discovered a fairly handy trick to use on trains though. The seats are usually arranged in groups of four - 2 seats alongside oneanother facing another 2. Now if no one is sitting opposite you, you can stretch your legs out and relax a little more without awkwardly rubbing the leg of the big hairy man opposite you. The problem is that thetrain tends to get so ful that its inevitable that someone will come sit in your little foursome of chairs.
I try to disourage this.
So when they are walking along the coach trying to find the least occuppied stall to sit in, I just stare at them. Right in the eyes. Its simple, but it seems to work, because they usually feel so uncomfortable with my eerie stare, that they'll go sit with 3 other random people rather than sit next to, or around me :D Quite an accomplishment I feel. Its really satisying when you see them coming towards you, you bring out the icy eyes, they look up and meet them momentarily, then, visibly shaken, they scurry off to any stall not in view of yours. I probably get more joy out of that then I should. I like to think of it as my only Jedi Mindtrick (so far)... Thats pretty much my morning socialising for you.
'Til next time accolytes
END
The long anticipated Rock Werchter
Rock Werchter was pretty mind blowing. That is, for 4 days I left my mind flapping noisily in the wind while I directed my energies towards other things. Such as survival. More specifically surviving 4 days in 34° degree heat at a festival where you kinda can't sit around in the shade all day if you actually wanna see anything. Somehow I pulled it off. Although my mental faculties are only really starting to return now. They're crawling slowly in my direction with a smarmy look in their slimy eyes.
As I'm sure you can imagine, they weren't the 4 most hygienic days of my life. I mean when we (me and Monica) weren't at concerts we were at the camping ground in a well boiled tent. Sleeping in that bugger is pretty disgusting in that heat. I mean, it really is gross. And that wasnt even using my sleeping bag.
Oh and much thanks to Monica for keeping my wallet and stuff in her handbag for most of the festival :)
Ok so this is what I saw, the performances which were good (regardless of whether I'm a fan of their music or not) are marked with a smiley face and the bad ones are marked with my face of eternal mourning D:
In no particular order....
- Muse :)
- Greenday D:
- Them Crooked Vultures :)
- Vampire Weekend :)
- Arcade Fire :)
- Pearl Jam :)
- Rise Against :)
- 30 Seconds to Mars D:
- Jack Johnson :)
- Balthazar :) (Belgian band, never heard them before but pretty good, more on them later)
- Pink :)
- Paramore, surprisingly :)
- Stereophonics :)
Impromptu reviews
Muse, Pearl Jam and Vampire Weekend
I don't want to go on too much about how great the big bands were, because I'm pretty sure its all been said before. All I'm going to say is that Muse and Pearl Jam both lived up to the hype. Vampire Weekend was great - they seem to carry a kind of innocence in their performance which I guess may come from them being relatively new to the scene.
Greenday
Probably the biggest let down of the festival. The only performance I genuinely wanted to end about halfway through. And my god, they played for like 2 and a half hours. A band with a lot of good music could pull that off (Pearl Jam, Muse) but they simply don't have the volume to work with. So they end up wasting all this time stopping and talking to the crowd during the song - completely stoppping the song for a solid 5 minutes. That happened on average 2 or 3 times a song. The first time it happens it's kinda ok but eentually you just want it to be over. By the time the song comes back on you've completely lost interest. Especially if it was one of their crappier songs to begin with.
The thing that really turned me off the whole thing though, apart from all I've already mentioned, is that they seem like complete pricks. I mean that probably seems like stating the obvious for some, but they really acted like douchebags. That drummer, my god, he thinks he's so damn funny. i think he has it in his head to try and be 'the crazy wacky one' but all he ends up doing is looking like an overweight older man trying to fit into a strange assortment of school clothes, wearing make-up and running like a retarded chicken. And not in a good way. The lead singer just makes up for that in general dickheadedness. The bassist managed to remain relatively inoffensive so I won't give him a hard time.
Arcade Fire
Many of you may know Arcade Fire, but I must admit, while I'd heard of them, I'd never actually heard one of their songs before going to Werchter. They had one of the best performances in my opinion. The energy on stage was incredible. They were crazy, but they pulled it off really well. Would be interested to listen to their music and see if its still good without the performance to back it up.
Balthazar
Right, so this is the Belgian band I mentioned earlier. Never heard of them prior to Werchter, but was pretty impressed. Its mostly pretty simple music from what I've heard but I like it. If you want to have a listen to a song to see what I'm talking about check it out at Balthazar's Myspace. You can listen to a few of their singles there. All good if I recall but like 'Hunger at the door' in particular as well as 'The boatman'... I think... Let me know what you think of the music in the comments...You know... if you want...
The rest I can't really be bothered talking about, not that they weren't good, I just don't feel like talking about them so much...
... There is one thing I should probably mention.. You know how at concerts they usually throw picks/drumsticks into the crowd? Well I was almost right at the front for Pearl Jam, and I managed to score myself a genuine PEARL JAM PICK! Which I feel is pretty damn awesome.
----------------------END OF REVIEWS---------------------------
This week was mostly back to normal. Last night I went to what can only be desrcibed as a youth booth festival. Which was pretty good. Before that we'd been playing lots of pool which was good cause I haven't done that properly in a while...
Public Transport
What is it with people when you're trying to get off the train/tram and they try get in before you can get out??? I mean, its bloody full. It doesn't take much brainpower to work out that if something is full, you have to empty it a bit before anything else can be put in it. But nooooo... these dicks are ambitiously trying to defy the laws of physics. And provoke my ire. Lets not forget the ire. I mean, I could glare at them or something. Actually I usually do, but they're too busy to notice.
I have discovered a fairly handy trick to use on trains though. The seats are usually arranged in groups of four - 2 seats alongside oneanother facing another 2. Now if no one is sitting opposite you, you can stretch your legs out and relax a little more without awkwardly rubbing the leg of the big hairy man opposite you. The problem is that thetrain tends to get so ful that its inevitable that someone will come sit in your little foursome of chairs.
I try to disourage this.
So when they are walking along the coach trying to find the least occuppied stall to sit in, I just stare at them. Right in the eyes. Its simple, but it seems to work, because they usually feel so uncomfortable with my eerie stare, that they'll go sit with 3 other random people rather than sit next to, or around me :D Quite an accomplishment I feel. Its really satisying when you see them coming towards you, you bring out the icy eyes, they look up and meet them momentarily, then, visibly shaken, they scurry off to any stall not in view of yours. I probably get more joy out of that then I should. I like to think of it as my only Jedi Mindtrick (so far)... Thats pretty much my morning socialising for you.
'Til next time accolytes
END
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
